A Comparison of Experienced, Novice Counselor and Non-counselor in Recall of Client-Presented Information in Therapeutic Interview

Chika Nagaoka, Kyoto University

Sakiko Yoshikawa, Kyoto University

Tomoko Kuwabara, Kyoto University

Yasuhiro Oyama, Kyoto University

Chiriho Hatanaka, Ritsumeikan University

Motoki Watabe, Waseda Institute for Advanced Study

Masashi Komori, Osaka Electro-Communication University

Abstract

This study examines whether counselors’ memory of
client-presented information varies qualitatively according to the number of
years of counseling experience. This study develops a methodology to measure the
amount of counselors’ recall memory obtained from a free recall task after
watching videotaped stimulus interviews. Four experienced counselors, seven
novice counselors, and twelve non-counselors watched videotaped stimulus
interviews and then wrote freely everything they could recall about what the
client had said in the interview. Interview transcripts were employed as
evaluation criteria. Independent coders judged the parts of the transcript to
which the recalled items corresponded. The results indicate that the experienced
counselor group scored the highest in recalling client-presented information and
that recalled contents differed among the participant groups. Implications of the
steps to gain counselor expertise are discussed.
This study was supported by Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (No. 20530569)
from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.